New Jersey Transportation Commissioner James Weinstein is right: Its folly for political candidates to talk of tearing down the toll plazas on the Garden State Parkway and giving everybody a free ride. Weinstein told a state Senate committee as much last week, even though his boss, acting Gov Donald DiFrancesco, has partially bought into the pipe dream. The prospect of a no-cost Parkway became an issue in the gubernatorial race when Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, who is seeking the GOP nomination, promised to sledgehammer the toll booths if hes elected. The idea turned out to have legs (wheels?), and a few weeks ago the other two principal candidates for the governors job also began talking about ending the tolls. Gov DiFrancesco, Mayor Schundlers opponent in the GOP primary, has ordered a study, with the aim of coming up with a responsible plan. As for the Democratic candidate, Woodbridge Mayor James McGreevey, hes working on a plan that will be not only responsible but also prudent. The candidates are holding out false hopes. No matter how the numbers are crunched, they wont add up to anything that makes practical sense. The Parkway now pays its own capital and maintenance costs, in addition to giving annual contributions to New Jerseys Transportation Trust Fund. Without tolls, this money would have to come from taxes. The state would save $37m to $60m a year in the cost of toll collections, plus administration. But it would have to shell out $56m for annual payments on a Parkway debt that exceeds $600m. (The debt would have to be refinanced; it couldnt just be shifted to state government.) The road also has some $200m in E-ZPass obligations to be dealt with. It has major construction needs, such as rebuilding the Raritan River bridge. Police patrols on the Parkway cost $23m a year. Routine repairs add another $25m; snowplowing, weed cutting and other seasonal requirements amount toms of dollars more. Simply demolishing the toll booths could cost $50m. Mayor Schundler says the Parkway could cover the states added expenses each year with $30m the federal government would pony up if the tolls were removed, plus $100m from the general fund. But whether a free Parkway would entitle New Jersey to any additional federal money is, at best, debatable. And that hypothetical $100m would have to replace something else in the budget; it wouldnt materialize out of nowhere. The Legislature has demonstrated time and again that it doesnt have the stomach to enact even a modest gasoline tax increase to meet compelling highway, bridge and mass transit needs. Why would it want to try to find money to replace a system thats self-funding? Admittedly, motorists dislike the Parkways pay-by-the-trip arrangement, but probably less for the out-of-pocket expenses it imposes than for the awful traffic jams it generates at the toll plazas at rush hour. The potential solution to that problem is an expanded use of E-ZPass, which allows subscribers to roll through the toll lanes without stopping. Where possible, lanes should be upgraded to enable E-ZPass traffic to clear them at highway speeds, an amenity thats available in other states and at Exit 6 on the New Jersey Turnpike. As Weinstein told the senators, We have enough things in this state in transportation that dont work, and it is to those things that we should be devoting our time and attention. Editorial TIMES OF TRENTON 4/22/01